WARREN ELLIS is a graphic novelist, writer, public speaker and author of the NYT best-selling novel GUN MACHINE.

On New Books

Published December 16, 2008 by Warren Ellis

I am reading two very good books right now. I am reading one of them on the laptop, and I am reading one of them… okay, I admit it, I’m reading it on the toilet. But anyway.

Catherynne M Valente’s PALIMPSEST just knocks me flat with her use of language: rich, cool, opiated language, language for stories of strange love and hallucinated cities of the mind. Here’s what it says about PALIMPSEST on its Amazon pre-order page:

Between life and death, dreaming and waking, at the train stop beyond the end of the world is the city of Palimpsest. To get there is a miracle, a mystery, a gift, and a curse—a voyage permitted only to those who’ve always believed there’s another world than the one that meets the eye. Those fated to make the passage are marked forever by a map of that wondrous city tattooed on their flesh after a single orgasmic night. To this kingdom of ghost trains, lion-priests, living kanji, and cream-filled canals come four travelers…

The first scene proper, discussing the trains of Heaven, just blew me away. It’s out in February 2009.

Cherie Priest’s BONESHAKER is an absolute riot. If anyone else had told me they were writing a steampunk zombie action thriller set in Seattle I would probably have looked for something heavy to stun them with and then made my escape. BONESHAKER dodges every single pitfall in the idea that you can think of, effortlessly, and entertains the fuck out of you while doing so. Also, there’s a man in it called Swakhammer. Which is possibly the best name ever. It’s just a hell of a good time, and I think it’s going to be a game-changer for Cherie (even though she’s already getting starred reviews from Publishers Weekly).

The book doesn’t come out until mid-2009, I think, but her most recent novel, released only a few weeks back, is getting brilliant reviews. It’s called FATHOM. You should look at it.

I have to write back cover blurbs for both of these books. Looking forward to it.

6 Comments

Palimsest does indeed sound very tasty and I’m going to be recommending its acquisition to our Collection Development Department. We need more good, imaginative fiction — for adults in the system.
Cheers.
Again.

[…] [:: dies and is ded ::] If you’re here via Warren, then I welcome you most heartily. Make yourselves at home. Click around. Drop me a comment or two. I’m always happy to hear from new readers and passers-through alike. […]

Hey, I just thought it was worth mentioning that not only is Palimpsest now available to the public, but Cat Valente has also taken her library of older, less available, less mainstream-market books and put them up as ebooks, selling them directly to her readers. It’s an exciting development… something I think more authors should think about doing with any long-reverted intellectual properties that are sitting around gathering dust, not being read and not making anyone money. So far the only other print author I know for sure who’s done something similar is Richard Herley, who’s doing a more “shareware” type model.